Air conditioning device



March 26, 1940. p CRQSLEY, JR 2,194,497

" AIR CONDITIONING DEVICE Filed March 20, 1954 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VENTOR.

PowELCRos En w f w ATTORNEYS.

March 26, 1940,. P. CROSLEY. JR

AIR CONDITIONING DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 20. 1934,

IIIIL o z u BB. 4. INVENTOR.

- FoweLCRosLsxgJR.

ahw Yw ATTORNEYS.

7 March 26, 1940. v p CRQSLEY' J 2,194,497

AIR counmzonma nnvxcz:

Filed March 20, 1954 a Sheets-Shet s INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS.

PCJWEL CROSLEY,JR.

. Patented ar. 26 l oonorrroonnvroa Powel Crosley,

In, Qineinnati, @hio, nssignor so corporation of Ohio Application March 20',

" is o The cooling and conditioning of air in buildings by refrigeration entails a number oi serious problems. At best the power requirements are high. It has been ascertained that about three horse power are required to cool a room of average size adequately in summer weather such as prevails inthe Central States. Theproblem is further complicated and the power requirements increased by'the lack of insulation in most dwellings and public buildings. The special circumstances in each installation must therefore be taken into account for best results, which militates against the use of standardized equipment and increases cost.

Hence, where cooling has been attempted in dwellings, the endeavor has been to cool one room,

-say, a bedroom-or at most only a small number of rooms. Even in such attempts, how ever, the equipment is preferably of the type which must be built in. This is primarily for the reason that the motor, compressor and con denserloi the refrigerating equipment should be located at a point remote from the evaporator, not only to cut down the noise, but also to avoid the efiects of the heat developed by the first mentioned-apparatus. It will be clear that ii the motor, compressor and condenser are located in the same air space with the evaporator; the net result of the operation of the mechanism will he a rise in temperature due to the wattage consumed. This has rendered more dificult the provision of portable units, since such units are not successful unless they have compaitments'separating the several mechanisms and intakeland outlet connections to some other room, or to the out of doors, for the air used in cooling the power devices. I In the light :of these problemskmy invention has for its several primaryobjects the iollo:

40 the provision of a cooling'and air-conditioning device, the action of which may be localized to a particular zone of use; hence the provisional a device which maybe truly portable, since the segregation of the several parts may plished as between the zone'of use and surrounehing areas. It is an object of my invention to pro vide a device of the character to be describeol, in

which the power requirements are low, anilin,

which both the first cost and the running costs are low enough to make the useof the device possible for the average individual.

Briefly in the practice of my invention, 1 pro-=- vide' in a single unit the elements oi a power cooling device, together with means for localizing the condition efiect to a date relatively be aecom- V was, his No min I v (oresise), v V restricted zone. Whiletheutility of myolevice is not limitedtheretoi'sh'all describe it ina preferred emb'oent designed-ior-oooling, alehumidlfying and conditioning the air "immedi f ately surrounding a bed. It will be understood that slightmodifioations may-be made inmy exemplary struce to adapt it: forzcooling any desired localized area.

In the exemplary embodiment i provide a" base preferably mounted upon casters for portability,

and bearing a motor, compressor, condenser and associated apparatus. The base also hears a regating, the particular zone of use hereinabove referred to, the. canopy, however, being so disposed as not to include the base or the power instrumentalities mounted thereon. The standard also bears, but within the canopy, an evaporator, together with means for collecting and carrying away moisture condensed. from the "air by the evaporator. The canopy may be positioned above a bed, and the edges thereor tucked in about the mattress if so desired.

I have found that a unit of small size and con Sllmiiig but little power is adequate to cool and standard adapted to support a canopy. for segv lit conrlition the air about a bed or other localized.

area of similar size. e unit required is of the order-oi the size of units employed in average refrigerators; but sire is not a limitation upon my invention. in this way I have succeeded in" providing a truly portable device of low cost such as may he used by the householder oi aver age means, or such as may be employed in hospi tals and the like to give comfort to the patients,

where the cost of cooling the building would be prohiloitive. Moreover, in the form of my invention herein described, the positioning and iuric= tic-s oi the parts is such thatnoian is requiren to circulate air through the evaporator.

This makes for very quiet operation.

The objects of my invention, which Will be clear irom the foregoing or wilibe imderstood by those skilled in the art from the detailed description which iolldwsi accomplish by that certain construction anol arrangement of parts oi which. i shall now rlesorioe. the aforesaid, exemplary embodiment.

Peterence is made .to'the drawings, wherein: Figure l. is a top plan View oi the canopy and supporting means. 4 Figure 2 is aside elevation, with the canopy shown in section. I

Figure 3 is a detailed view of a portion of the with.

wooden bars I0.

Figure 4 is a detailed view of the compressor and associated devices mounted upon the base. Figure 5 is a top plan view of the evaporator. Figure 6 is an end elevation of the evaporator showing the louvre construction.

The general assembly of my device is best indicated in Figure 2, where I indicates a bed, and 2 the base of my device. The base is preferably mounted upon casters 3, and is extended upon one made of pipe sections, the hollow form of which I permits the leading of the several connections to and from the evaporator through the pipe. An elbow 1, preferably having less than a right angled bend, is employed, in connection with certain intermediate members hereinafter to be described, to support a member 8 extending to a substantially central point above the bed. A vertical canopy support 9'is attached by-suitable couplings to the member 8, and may bear crossed Iron rods ll, connecting the ends of these bars, complete an adequate support for the canopy I2. At one side, an entrance to the canopy may be eflectedthrough flaps l2a and I2b slidably mounted upon one of the rods II.

An evaporator indicated geenrally at I3, is supported by clamps located'on the standard structure within the canopy.

The motor and compressor assembly is shown in Figure 4 as built up on a sub-base ll, suspended by springs l5 from suitable supports (not shown) attached directly or indirectly to the base 2. The sub-base carries an electric motor I 6, connected by a belt I! to the driving wheel l8 of a compressor IS. A condenser is shown mounted upon the base 2'. A fan 2| may be attached either to the motor or compressor shafts, to cause a circulation of air over the coils of the condenser; and the front portion of the housing 4 may becut away as shown andfitted with a screen 22 to permit passage of air. The base 2 is of open, frame-like construction permitting circulation of air.

The inlet. 23 to the compressor is connected to the return lead 24 from the evaporator. This lead passesdown preferably inside the standard 5, and is coiled or goose-necked .as shown to permit vibration of the sub-base l4 and its associated apparatus. Likewise the high pressure side of the compressor is connected by a goose-necked tube 25 to thecondenser 20. The particular type-of evaporator feed control employed in my exemplaryembodiment, and which is not a limita- Y tion upon my invention, is one incwhich a tube of small diameter is used to feed a controlled amount of refrigerant continuously. This tube is indicated at 26, connected to] the condenserthrough a filter 21, and passing up the standard 5. The standard finally contains a tube 28 passing downward to a container 29, which may be suspended from aho'ok 30 to catch and hold moisture condensed upon the evaporator.

The evaporator and attendant apparatus are shown in Figs. 3, 5 and 6. The elbow 1 supports a short length of relatively heavy pipe or rod 3| as shown in Fig. 3, to which the evaporator is attached by means of clips 32. A reducingcoupling 33 on the arm of the pipe 3| is used .to attaoh the member 8 which is a lighter construcdensed upon the evaporator. Hence I provide,

as best shown in Fig. 6, a series of louvre plates i 35 reversely bent as shown to provide gutters for the discharge of condensate. It will be observed that the support 3| is tilted at an angle tothe horizontal so that the gutters of the louvre plates may feed down into a trough member 36, which in turn empties into a collector cup 31 on the upper end of the tube 28. The feeder tube 26 from the.

compressor is preferably connected through a fitting 38 to the end of the evaporator and the other end thereof is connected through a tube to-a reservoir to which the tube 24 to the compressor is connected and preferably provided with an oil skimming device.

In the operation of my device, the air inside the canopy is cooled and conditioned by convection, the arrows in Fig. 2 indicating the general course of the air currents. It will be noticed that the evaporator is preferably, though not necessarily, located near the foot of the bed so that the cooled air sinks therefrom and spreads out over the lower part of the enclosure. The warm air] of respiration has a natural tendency to rise,

and therefore further assists the circulation. The

material of the canopy need not be of heavy or air tight fabric. A light and relatively porous fabric is suflicient to isolate the cooled zone effectively and has the additional advantage of permitting sumcient bleeding of the air to effect a change thereof from time to time. If, however, a heavier.

material is employed, it may be found advantageous to provide small screen openings in the canopy such as one at the bottom and near the head of the bed and-0ne near the top of the canopy.

In this way I have provided a device which is portable and is adapted for use in the conditioning ofthe air in. a restricted zone of use. The

isolation of this zone by means of the canopy makes it unnecessary to provide outside connections for air to the condenser; and the use of convection currents for the conditioning'of the air eliminates the use of a fan and makes for very quiet operation.

Having thus. described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In an air conditioning device a portable base, a cabinet mounted thereon, the high pressure portion of a refrigerating device mounted in said cabinet, a. standard associated with said base, means on said standard for supporting a canopy,

.a canopy so supported and an evaporator supported from said supporting means within said canopy, and a trap for catching and conducting away moisture condensed on said evaporator.

2. In an air conditioning device a portablebase, a cabinet mounted thereon, the high presrator, said standard being hollow and connec-' tions to and f1 om said evaporator passing through said standard.

3. In an air conditioning device a portable base, a cabinet mounted thereon, the high pressure portion of a refrigerating device mounted in said cabinet, a standard associated with said base, means on said standard for supporting a canopy, a canopy so supported and an evaporator supported from said supporting means within said canopy, and a trap for catching and conducting away moisture condensed on said evaporator, said standard being hollow and connections to and from said evaporator passing through said standard, and means for causing a power forced circulation of air through said cabinet.

4. In an air conditioning device, portable means for isolating an entire zone of immediate personal occupancy, and means located within first mentioned means for cooling said zone and inducing circulation of air therein by convection, said means comprising a cooling device located inside said isolating means and. near the top thereof, said isolating means including a canopy of flexible material, and supporting means therefor.

5. In an air conditioning device, portable means for isolating an entire zone of immediate personal occupancy, and means located within said first mentioned means for cooling said zone and inducing circulation of air therein by convection, said means comprising a cooling device located inside said isolating means and near the top thereof, said isolating means including a canopy of flexible material, and supporting means therefor, and means for permitting entrance to and exit from said isolating means.

6. In an air conditioning device, portable ,means for isolating an entire zone of immediate per.-

sonal occupancy, and means located within said first mentioned means for cooling said zone and inducing circulation of air therein by convection,

said means comprising a cooling device located- .inside said isolating means and near the top thereof, said isolating means including a canopy of flexible material, and supporting means therefor, and means for permitting entrance to and exit from said isolating means, said isolating means having means to permitslow change of atmosphere in said zone.

. 7. An air cooling and circulating device comprising a receptacle, a cooling device suspended at the upper part'of said receptacle, the receptacle being made of flexible material, with means for holding it in its operative position.

8. In an apparatus of the kind described, the combination with a support and an enclosing canopy carried thereby, of a refrigerating unit carried by said support, an air conditioning unit carried by said support and extending therefrom into the upper part of said canopy and having means for cooling and circulating air in said canopy, and refrigerant conducting means connecting said units. v

9. In an apparatus of the kind described, the combination with a base, supporting means carried by said base and extending upwardly therefrom, and having a lateral arm, and an'enclosing canopy carried by said arm, of a refrigerating unit carried by said base, anair conditioning unit carried by said arm and extending theretroni into said canopy and having means for 

